


Wasting time

by Blackghost7



Category: NCIS
Genre: Established Relationship, First Kiss, Flashbacks, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 18:16:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2661665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackghost7/pseuds/Blackghost7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of the night, Gibbs reflects on how he and his lover got together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wasting time

This was now his favorite time of night, he realized. Not long ago, he would be dreading this hour, either down in the basement or on the couch in the living room, wondering if he could get himself off to sleep or if the ghosts would be keeping him up through the night. But now he felt at peace and the ghosts were kept at bay, and it was all due to his beautiful lover sleeping beside him. The dim light of the lampposts filtering through into the bedroom gave him enough light to see by, and his gaze followed the lines and curves of his sleeping lover’s body, taking in the smooth skin and firm muscles of the younger man, who didn’t know that even in his sleep, he still had his boss’ six and protected him from himself. He admired the muscular planes of Tony’s body and the curves of his ass, as Tony lay sleeping on his stomach with his arms curled around his pillow, his face turned to Gibbs and relaxed in slumber. The older man was still surprised how quiescent his lover was in his sleep, since while he was awake the younger man always thrummed with energy. The relaxed features of Tony’s face made him look younger still and Gibbs often wondered what his lover was doing with him, a battered old marine and self-professed bastard, but every day he was thankful for whatever it was that kept Tony by his side. It was this opportunity for him to watch Tony asleep and peaceful that kept the ghosts away from Gibbs’ mind and he could let his thoughts wander without worrying that the nightmares would invade and unbalance him, and as almost always, his wandering thoughts revolved around Tony.

Gibbs had admired the younger man from the moment they met, all those years ago. Tony’s quick mind and even quicker smile, his wit and determination, his ethics and yes, his looks, the whole package had appealed instantly to Gibbs. Of course, after hiring him for NCIS, Gibbs couldn’t indulge in his feelings beyond teaching the younger man everything he knew, being his mentor. He didn’t know if Tony was even into men, and certainly didn’t think that Tony could ever be into him, so he kept his feelings hidden and contented himself with the work relationship they had. From day one he kept himself in check, only sparingly indulging himself by stepping too close to Tony and surreptitiously taking in his scent, or with a head slap which were as much for Tony’s benefit as his own, keeping the younger man grounded and allowing Gibbs to touch. He knew he could never let himself go beyond that.

All these years, he managed to keep his attraction and feelings hidden, even through Tony’s flirting and lingering looks which Gibbs sometimes caught, but in which he saw nothing but affection and admiration the younger man had for him. Flirting was second nature to Tony, and Gibbs certainly didn’t think his agent meant anything by it when he did it to Gibbs. Over the years, Gibbs watched Tony grow up, from NCIS rookie to Senior Field Agent, from frat boy cop to Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, and while he sometimes missed the exuberance of Tony’s early days on his team, Gibbs appreciated the man he had grown into, a little less restless now and a few more lines on his face.

They had shared a lot during their years together, and their relationship had undergone difficulties of course, at some point they had grown apart but found their way back to each other again. Gibbs focused on the happier times, when Tony had shown up in his basement after a hard case and spent a few hours watching him work on the boat while keeping him entertained with his babbling, the times Tony had stayed over because his apartment was uninhabitable, the shared pizza and beers or steaks and bourbon. At those times, Gibbs felt almost happy, even though he would be left with a longing for more. And then came the day that Tony made his world complete.

It was an ordinary Friday evening and nothing special had happened during the week, so Gibbs was surprised to hear Tony’s footsteps on the ground floor, walking over to the fridge and then coming down the basement stairs with a six pack in hand. Settling himself on a nearby saw horse and sipping his beer, Tony watched his boss working on his latest project for a while. When Gibbs took his last sip of bourbon from his mug, Tony got up and poured him some more. Grabbing another beer for himself, he stood close to Gibbs and watched his hands working on the wood, trying to discover what this piece would become. When one of the wood curls Gibbs had just carved stuck to the back of the older man’s hand, Tony casually reached out and brushed it off, then returned to the saw horse and sat down again. Gibbs marveled at the action, but waited Tony out. Usually his agent would be talking while in the basement, and there was no touching. The Tony that was here tonight was different, and Gibbs was curious.

There were more long minutes before Tony, by now on his third beer, finally spoke. The unusual tone of his voice caused Gibbs to look up and face his agent at the first words.  
“So, Gibbs… are you in love with me?”  
Shocked, Gibbs looked at the younger man and forced himself to speak, voice gruff.  
“What makes you ask that?”  
“Well… Abby and I had a movie night a while ago, and there were these two guys in this movie who were clearly in love with each other, but were dancing around it for years. When I said that was just stupid, Abby laughed and said that you and I were doing exactly the same. And before I knew what I was saying, I told her that was different because you weren’t in love with me, and she just gave me this look. Then a little while later, I was complaining to Jimmy that you had head slapped me when I was talking to this witness and he asked me if I had been flirting. When I said I might have been, he just shook his head and said that I should know by now that you always get jealous when I flirt with someone else. Even McGee made a remark once that he thought you were totally checking out my ass.” At that, Tony looked up at Gibbs. “Were you?”

Gibbs inwardly groaned. He recalled the head slap he’d delivered when Tony was flirting outrageously with the young female witness, and also remembered when McGee had stared at him funny for a while after he had caught Gibbs gazing at Tony’s ass as he bent over at a crime scene to scan the floor for evidence. That Abby had seen through him wasn’t that surprising, but Palmer obviously had been observing keenly as well. Or perhaps Gibbs just hadn’t been as good at hiding his feelings as he had thought.

“And then,” Tony continued when Gibbs didn’t respond to his question, “I overheard Ziva, McGee and Abby making plans for our night at the bar two weeks ago, and Ducky said they should get the two of us drunk and lock us in a closet or something, so that we would finally get over ourselves and get together. But then Ziva mentioned that wouldn’t be fair because Jimmy had that week in the pool, and if they tried to force us together it would be an unfair advantage to Jimmy.”

Tony took a few more sips of beer, and Gibbs tried to process all of this information. Tony spoke again.

“So I was thinking about all that and then I thought that if they were right, we’ve been really stupid. Because if you have these feelings for me, then we’ve wasted a lot of time. You see, I’ve been in love with you for years, since Baltimore I guess, but I just never thought you felt the same. If I’m honest with myself, I know I wasn’t ready for it back then and it’s probably a good thing I didn’t know until later that it was love that I was feeling for you. But I’ve been ready for it for a few years now and I’m just wondering whether there is any chance that you might want to, you know, be in a relationship with me? So I thought I’d come ask.”

Gibbs stared at Tony for a few moments after the younger man had stopped speaking. He raised his mug of bourbon to his lips, but found it empty. Tony smiled and poured him some more, taking yet another beer for himself. Gibbs asked: “Are you trying to get me drunk?”  
“Well,” Tony replied impishly: “I thought that part of their plan was actually pretty good, because if I say all this and it turns out I’m completely wrong, I can always claim that we were both drunk and you misunderstood what I had said.”  
Giving a soft smirk, Gibbs put down his mug without taking another sip. “Unfortunately, Tony, you won’t have that excuse.”  
Trying to assess the meaning of those words, Tony asked: “Do I need an excuse?”  
“What you need is to come here so I can kiss you,” Gibbs responded.  
Tony put down his beer bottle and slowly walked over to his boss. “Does that mean that they were right?”  
“I’m sorry, Tony,” Gibbs responded, at which Tony froze.  
“Sorry for wasting all this time, like you said. Please, let’s not waste any more?” And at that, Gibbs stood up and gently cupped his hands on Tony’s cheeks before tentatively bringing their lips together.

The kiss soon turned passionate when Tony’s tongue gained entrance to Gibbs’ mouth. Sliding his hands to the younger man’s neck and back, Gibbs felt Tony embrace him and run his hands over Gibbs’ back and arms. Soon they were caressing each other everywhere they could reach, and when Tony cupped the older man’s ass and pulled him close, their erections brushed together, eliciting a deep moan from both men. Tony started tugging at Gibbs’ clothes, wanting to get the man naked, but Gibbs pulled back and stopped him. Disappointed and confused, Tony opened his eyes and looked at his boss. Seeing the emotions in Tony’s eyes, Gibbs smiled at him, then took his hand and said: “Come on upstairs, Tony.” The younger man happily obliged.

Once in the bedroom, the kissing resumed and this time Gibbs didn’t stop Tony undressing him. In fact, Gibbs did quite a bit of undressing of his own, caressing and kissing each inch of Tony’s skin that he managed to get naked. All their clothes finally divested, they crawled onto the bed together and explored each other. But when Tony reached for Gibbs’ hardened flesh, he was once again stopped.

“Tony,” Gibbs said: “before we do this, I want to tell you… I love you. I have loved you and wanted you for a very long time.”  
Tony beamed with happiness at the earnestly spoken words and simply replied: “I love you, Jethro.”  
“I don’t have any experience with this, with men,” Gibbs admitted.  
“Neither do I, but we’ll figure it out,” was the confident reply.  
And they had.

Since that Friday night when Tony had been braver than Gibbs could ever have seen himself being, laying it all on the line and declaring his love for the older man without any real assurance that it would be welcomed or reciprocated, based only on a few comments and overheard conversations, they had been together. That weekend they had spent mostly in bed, getting to know each other in this new way. On Sunday afternoon, they had made a trip to Tony’s apartment and collected his basic essentials to bring over to Gibbs’ house. Neither felt like wasting any more time or spending time apart from each other, so Tony moving in was just natural. Over the next weeks, more and more of Tony’s things found their way home to Gibbs’ until almost everything was there. Tony’s belongings fit in the house as if they had always been meant to be there, and so did Tony himself. Gibbs’ house became a home again.

They weren’t ready to share this yet, and both agreed that at work everything should remain the same. So Gibbs still got annoyed with Tony and Tony still got head slaps, and days turned into weeks and then into months. They did notice the team watching them closely, and laughed about it sometimes, wondering how they could have missed those assessing looks from their team all these years. Neither had difficulties switching between home and work, going from Tony and Jethro to Gibbs and DiNozzo easily. Tony knew exactly when to let Gibbs have his time in the basement and Gibbs knew when to leave Tony to his movies and books. Gibbs learned that Tony liked cooking and reading as much as his movies, and Tony learned that Gibbs was not just tactile with his wood work, but also with Tony. Gibbs became less haunted, and Tony became more settled.

After months of being together, they talked about telling the team, curious who had won the pool. They discussed various ways of coming out, Tony coming up with dramatic gestures, Gibbs just wanting to invite them over to the house and telling them outright. In the end, it was something simple that gave them away. At another night out at the bar, which Gibbs now often joined at Tony’s request, they were sitting around a table laden with beers and cocktails, talking about the case they had just wrapped up, and McGee complimented Tony on his detective skills, Tony that morning having made one of those intuitive leaps that got them to their missing piece of evidence. “Thanks, Probie,” Tony beamed, pleased at the praise. “Yes, good work, Tony,” Gibbs said and brushed his hand over the back of Tony’s head. Tony beamed even more, looking at his boss, his lover, his everything. “Thank you, Jethro,” Tony purred, and patted Gibbs’ thigh with his hand.

Abby squealed, and at the raised eyebrows of the others, exclaimed: “Oh my God, you guys are so totally together!!”  
Tony managed to blush, Gibbs just grinned.

It turned out to be Vance who had won the pool.


End file.
